Customer Expectations Push Brands to Do Better

Four tenets – “experience, innovation, trust” and “values” – ought to inform a business’s decision to incorporate new technologies.

The world is in the throes of the fourth industrial revolution, and the fifth revolution – whereby new digital technologies will emphasize “hyper personalization” – is on the horizon. Education will become fluid and customized, urban environments will know who you are and where you are heading, and health care providers will predict and anticipate what you might need next.

People have become comfortable using digital technologies in their everyday lives. For instance, they’ve grown accustomed to ordering rides through Uber, checking into hotel rooms online, and raising the thermostat in their house from their smartphones. So if your business isn’t using such technologies to deliver frictionless, intuitive interactions, your customers will feel that you don’t care about them. Today’s consumers expect companies of all types and sizes to use technology that rests on the four pillars of experience, innovation, trust and values.

Customers recall their experience with a brand, product or service far longer than...